I will not bow
by gh0stheart
Summary: "...I'm just a product of what I grew up in. There's no denying it; my parents eaten by a sky squid, growing up in Krokotopia and most importantly being accused of Treason by the treacherous Armada..."
1. Welcome to my life

_"...I'm just a product of what I grew up in. There's no denying it; my parents eaten by a sky squid, growing up in_ _Krokotopia_ _and most importantly being accused of Treason by the treacherous Armada. This is my tale, do with it you will; just don't doubt a word of it as it is all true. Now let us begin before the sky becomes black and your eyes start to droop, loosing all the precious details that have never been heard by living ear. Hush now, and listen well for this tale shall never be told again..."_

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 **Chapter one: Welcome to my life**

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It was a hot day in Krokotopia. It was almost always hot and dry; for the sun always shown and there was hardly any moisture in the air. When rain did come it was considered a gift from the gods. That day though wasn't one of those days. It was a miserably hot day, worse than usual, and I was working on the docks. I lived on one of the major trading ports and helped build ships. I was fourteen, not yet a man but not a boy either. My adoptive father was always going about how he should have left me as an Arena slave. That was what happened to orphans after all.

The sweat was pouring off my back as I pounded the last nail in. I had many more ships to build and the pay was low. Children were always paid lower wages, that was why there was so many of us slaving ourselves away for one of the lizards. (No offence to my adoptive father of course.) Sometimes I wished that I was a mander or krok, because then I would've never had known my parents death, or even have had my parents. I'm not telling you that they were bad because they weren't. In fact they were great. They always made time for me and they had even taught me how to wield swords and daggers; I didn't take after my mother in the magical arts but I had in looks. I had her fiery red hair and pale skin, but I had my fathers deep blue eyes. No one would ever have doubted I was their child. Unfortunately that wasn't always a good thing; like that particular day, for example.

I was called up to the Boss. I wasn't sure his name, he always liked his little workers to call him that. It probably just made him feel more powerful, like we were his subjects or something. He was of course loyal to the Pharaoh; it was foolish not to be. Those who were disloyal died horrible deaths, were tortured or "miraculously" became an Arena slave. You could say that I wasn't a fan of the Pharaoh. In fact that was an understatement. I loathed him; he kept on the good side of the Armada. So it wasn't uncommon for them to show up and inspect everything. At those times I was usually kept hidden inside some cabinet somewhere. I was always considered tiny, but stubborn. Once I made up my mind on something, there was no changing it.

"Fergus, my dear boy, someone wants to see you." The Boss told me giving me his best grin, which trust me was terrifying. You could see all 72 extremely sharp white teeth and the evil glint in his eyes. It was enough to make you do whatever he wanted, which in this case was to meet someone. I prepared myself for the worst and kept a straight face as I entered the Bosses office like shop.

A Marleybonian wearing his finest was inside sitting in a traditional ivory chair that was used for guests. Whoever this person is he was important. I did my best to smile and not to seem nervous. (I did say try right?) In truth I was probably shaking. Who would ever want to see me? The Marleybonian gestured for me to come forward, and so I did. I didn't want to displease the guest after all. I could be killed for such an offence.

"You look so much like your parents Fergus." The Marleybonian dog told me. I could only nod. He told the truth. I couldn't deny it. I was stubborn not stupid. "You can speak lad." He told me. I wasn't sure what to do. I wasn't always this legendary outspoken person everyone thinks I am. In fact I was the opposite.

"Um... sir?" I asked him uncertain. "Call me Norton." He interrupted. "Um... Norton what do you want?" I rephrased my question. What else was there to say? "I'm an old friend of your parents, who has some favors that I need to repay... and now that I've finally found you I can - such a tragedy how they died." He told me. Why does everyone always bring up my parents death? I get that they were famous pirates and they were eaten a giant sky squid, sometimes I wonder if they know that I was there too. I was the one survivor of that wreck, and I'm proud of it, only a few people survive those. But that didn't mean I wasn't scarred, because I have one on my back where the wood of the ship had embedded itself into my side. I barely survived; if the wood had landed anywhere else I wouldn't have. I was always considered unbelievably lucky. Though I tend to think that the lucky ones were the ones who died. They didn't have to deal with the emotional trauma. I didn't speak for an entire year afterwards.

"...Lad, I'm going to take you in." He told me. I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn't a little surprised. The last five years I had endured a krok who only used me as a source of income and didn't care about my personal needs past that point. I was nearly forgotten about; except for when the Armada came, but I think that was for his personal safety, because of who my parents were...

"Okay." I replied, unsure of what to do. I knew that favors traveled through family and as I was the last remaining Hawkins the favor passed to me. It's just like favors are passed to those who owe someone else a favor. I think I spent too much time with Toad when I was younger. He was almost always with the Frogfather, except when he babysat me. I don't get why my parents asked him to baby-sit me. Maybe they had something on him. I wouldn't be surprised. Gullet is pretty much the capital of the criminal underworld in Skull Island. Pretty much if the smell didn't kill you the people would…

"Now let's get going. I'm sure you don't want to stay here." Norton told me. He was right. I didn't, but what would the Boss say or even worse my adopted father. But if I didn't tell them then I could just run away. And so that was exactly what I did. Some would call me stupid, but I would call this opportunistic. You know what they say, "never look a gift horse in the mouth."


	2. The Dove

**A special thanks to TheDiamondWriter for fav/following this fic. I greatly appreciate it.**

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 **Chapter two: The Dove**

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It had been roughly a month since I had became apart of the dysfunctional family known as Norton's crew, and I was starting to settle in. It didn't help my cause any that the only person my age was a girl named Deirdre Dove and she hated me from the moment she saw me. The rest of the crew told me that she's that way with everyone and she was nice when she's in Skull Island. I hoped that that wasn't the only time she would be nice-ish, because in reality she was kind of pretty with her long dark brown hair that was always combed to the left side, palish skin (mine far paler) and light sky blue eyes.

It was night on board The Dark Stallion and I was standing on the starboard deck watching the many stars. Deirdre walked up behind me. I didn't really notice her; I was too focused on the stars.

"Beautiful aren't they?" She said. There was no spite in her voice; it almost sounded longing. "Yeah." I replied. "Sometimes I wish that I could touch them." She told me. At this time I turned around to look at her. She almost looked sad. "Sometimes I do to." I told her. She smiled slightly and told me. "I remember..." I didn't know what she was talking about. "You don't remember do you?" She said. I shook my head; I didn't know.

"It would make sense as we were so very young." She told me. She made it oblivious that I had known her. And it was true that I didn't remember much about my parents; my memories of them are brief. I know that there should have been more of them as I was with them most of the time. As it had happened only five years ago.

"What happened?" I asked. She shook her head. "Our parents and your parents were close friends... Sometimes they would be together. They were always smiling. They would sometimes leave us alone together." She smiled as if this was a fond memory. "It was late one evening, and instead of going to sleep, you stood at the edge of the deck - just like you are today. I asked you what you you were doing and you replied, 'I'm watching the stars.' When I asked why you answered 'I want to be able to touch them.'" She told me.

"I think I might remember..." I told her. It sounded about right, but my memory is a little foggy when I go that far back. I didn't really use my memories in Krokotopia. I was far too concerned about staying alive to care about non important (at that time) things.

"Come on we need to get into the cabin." She told me. I didn't want to argue with her for she could revert back to her cold ways, so I did as I was told. I didn't bother to change clothes for I had none other than the ones I wore. I didn't have many clothes in Krokotopia. I got into my little hammock in the far right corner of the room and stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come over me.

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It had been a couple more days and neither I or Deirdre acted any different. Then again I was too busy doing all the things I was supposed to be doing. I didn't really pay attention anymore what it was. I guess it was good because I had boundless energy. It was that day that I'd be officially out of Krokotopia. At that time I wasn't sure if I was to be happy or sad about leaving my old home. The Krokotopians disliked me and I never fit in. Being human in a land full of Krok's and Manders sucked.

It was about time to knot the rope around my foot. Stormgates are dangerous things. They can suck you into another world or tear you apart. It all depends if you have the correct wind stone or insert it at the right time. That is why most pirates stay in the same spiral world; their own safety. Smart decision in the long term, but not the choice that Norton chose. I was at that time a little worried. I had heard the stories, but I had some Faith in Norton.

I tied my best knot and waited for the zero gravity effects of the Stormgate, hoping that I wouldn't become nauseous. After all that was what used to happen when I was younger. I really didn't want the embarrassment, or truthfully need it.

"Fergus you look a little worried." One of the pirates, Dead-eye Sid, told me. He was one of the older crew members, and one of the most respected. He was a musketeer; the best on the crew. He oddly enough wore an eye patch and looked very muscular. He had a scar on his hairline. You could tell he wasn't a man you messed with.

"I'm fine sir." I replied. I was fine after all, just a little worried. I didn't understand how he couldn't be with all the dangers, but if he could be calm I sure could to. I never did stop gripping the rope. It would have been suicidal not to. It was a rough trip through. Boxes that had previously been tied down were now thrashing around in the ship; ropes still attached. Was this how they treated cargo?

Soon enough it stopped. I knew that in a couple hours this would happen once again. I wasn't happy about that; especially because I was on clean up duty. I guess it could've been worse and I would have been mopping the deck.


	3. Taken

**Sorry for this chapter being so very short.**

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 **Chapter 3: Taken**

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The days afterwards were long and boring. They were filled with chores, sword lessons and strange conversations with Deirdre. Norton spent his time mostly in Skull Island and Marleybone. The most exciting thing that would occur would be when a sky shark or some type of sky fish would come aboard. That was when we had free meat or food. It's easy to tire of yum and stale biscuits. That would be until we headed to a port; the most common being Scrimshaw.

It was dark outside, the moon shining overhead. I was standing on my usual side of the deck. The clouds were covering the stars. Deirdre had already given up on my late night antics. It was well past midnight. She never liked to stay up past that point. She always said something like "some of us need sleep." It was true, some of do, and some of us don't, as much.

It was that night when I noticed something off. There was a ship moving closer to The Dark Stallion. I hoped that it wasn't going after any of us, but as we were all pirates it was hard to know. I saw the ship moving closer in the distance. I looked up to see the scout had fallen asleep. I climbed the ropes up to the lookout.

"Billy wake up!" I whispered loudly into his ear. He wasn't stirring. That was when I remembered how much he drank that night. Yum could have very well put him into a stupor and I couldn't alert them without him awake. So I swiftly moved down the ropes. I needed to see what was going on.

Cannon fire pierced the air. I knew what was coming. Deirdre came running out and soon came everyone else. We all had our weapons handy if some of them intruded upon our deck. We loaded the canons and let them fire. It wasn't enough though. We were soon about to sink when the enemy came aboard. There was no way for us to win as they took out about half of our people. How could I escape this? It all happened so incredibly fast. It wasn't standard for another pirate to attack a pirate ship unless we had something they wanted. What could be so valuable on this ship?

The captain of the other ship stepped on board ours. She made her way across the deck. None of us dared to attack her for it would be our death. She could at anytime tell her crew to attack and that would be the end of us. All of this because Billy had drank too much yum.

"Which one of ye is the captain?" She asked calmly. Norton stepped forward with his head held down. It was embarrassment for him to be defeated in such a way. He didn't bother to even look up, for he knew his death was nigh. She brought out her gun and shot him in the head. He collapsed to the ground dead. Even though spiral guns use sparks they can be as deadly as any sword or dagger. She then pointed her weapon at us. She had a dark glare in her eyes. That was how I knew who she was. She was called "Crazy" Rashida for her actions against well... pretty much everybody.

"Now do ye know where the Hawkins boy is?" She asked calmly. I gulped. Why would she want me? I was pushed forward by other crew members. Deirdre surprisingly stood with me. She looked worried; an emotion that I didn't think possible on her. "Captain Avery wants ye." Rashida told me as she grabbed my hand.

"Wait!" Deirdre called. Rashida looked stunned. "Can I come with?" Deirdre continued to say. Rashida blinked; her grip still tight. Why would Deirdre ever want to go with me. "Fine little girl." Rashida told Deirdre. Deirdre came up to her and aloud her to get a grip on her wrist. Dragging us both; all of us appeared on the deck of her ship, The Admiral Tiger. Her crew didn't even look at us when we passed by. Was this type of thing normal for this crew?

She brought Deirdre and I into a room below deck and locked both of us inside. It was dark and cramped. The ceiling was low, it was barely big enough for one person, not to mention two.

"Deirdre why did you decide to come with me?" I asked. I didn't get it. "I didn't want to be abandoned again, plus without Norton I have no family." She answered. "Oh." Was my unintelligent response. I didn't realize that she also was an orphan. I had assumed that her parents had sent her away or something like that.

"Um... What happened to your parents?" I asked. My curiosity getting the best of me. If I was going to be stuck in a small, dark room with her for who knows how long with her then I would use it to my advantage. "Oh... they died in the search for some treasure while I was left at Skull Island." She replied calmly. She didn't even sound sorrow. It's weird, if it has to do with something emotional she's detached, but if it has to do with anything else then she's a normal human. She's very insincere and I probably don't want to know why.

"How can you keep your attitude so... I don't know... calm?" She asked. "You aren't being calm?" I exclaimed surprised. She just looked at me as if I were crazy, which I'm not, or at least I don't think I am. Sometimes though sanity and insanity are similar.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you RollingEevee for favoriting this story.**

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 **Chapter 4**

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Hours passed by and there was silence. Deirdre kept herself calm by rocking back and forth. She kept herself a steady rhythm. Almost like a clock's pendulum ticking back and forth. I just watched as I had nothing better to do. There was light peeping through the one window we had. It wasn't much. Only a foot at the most. The rays just barely hit my foot.

Suddenly the door opened revealing a large water mole standing on the other end. He was holding a spear. I wasn't sure if he wanted to kill us or not.

"Fergus and friend allowed out." The water mole told us. Deirdre stopped her incessant rocking and started to stand partially upright. I crawled out into the wonderful sunlight. Never in my life was I so happy to see the sun.

That was when I saw Rashida. She didn't seem as what people called "crazy." Though if I probably wasn't a good judge on that. I started to worry about why Rashida wanted us to come out. Did she want to kill us? Or did she have something more sinister planned? I remembered from the night before that Avery wanted me.

Even in Krokotopia, I knew who Captain Avery was. He was the pirate king, the head of crime on Skull Island, other than the frog father. I just stood outside."We will fight

"We're almost to skull Island, make yerself useful," she told us. I didn't question her, neither did Deirdre. If there was one thing we weren't was stupid.

I ended up doing my least favorite activity, mopping the deck. I have no clue what Dierdre did, but I'm confident that it was equally as horrid. I don't know what about the swishing of the mop but it just bores me to know end.

After I finished mopping the deck I went to find Rashida. She would know what she wanted me to do, she was the captain after all. The word captain felt weird on my tongue, almost as if it shouldn't have been there. When I found Rashida she looked as if she was waiting for something.

"I see that yer done," she told me. I nodded my head. "I need to train ye before ye go to Skull Island."

I was pretty sure I paled at those words. Who knows what type of training she was going to do. It was well known that she was a musketeer, and I was pretty sure I was a privateer, meaning that I would probably be trained in the art of musketry.

She brought me to these three barrels. They had targets painted upon them. She then handed me a gun.

"Hit the targets," she told me. I held the gun up and shot, hoping that I at least hit the barrel; I didn't. I was way, way off my target. So I tried again, and again until I eventually hit the outer ring.

It was almost sunset by this time and I was tired. My training had ended for the day. Unfortunately, I didn't get a second lesson. I was given the gun though.

The next couple days were long and monotonous. I basically helped around the deck. Nothing much happened.

It had been a week and I was watching the stars when I felt something unsettling. It was one of those gut feelings you get when you know something bad was about to happen. I told myself that there was nothing to worry about; that I was just being crazy, but I wasn't. Something bad did happen that day. Something terrible indeed. It was the night that I was caught by the armada.

The night started out normally enough with Rashida ordering us to the barracks. I did what I was told, of course. There was a porthole so I could watch the stars all I wanted. That was when I noticed a shape I hadn't seen in months, the shape of an armada ship. I silently prayed to whatever god was up there that I was going to be alright and the robotic horrors wouldn't notice this ship.

For a while, it seemed they didn't, but they soon came closer to the ship. That was when I noticed it wasn't just one ship, but many. I shook Dierdre's shoulder frantically. She was the person next to me. When she awoke, I hissed, "the armada's here," into her ear. She was definitely awake after those words.

We didn't have much time until there was cannon fire. We couldn't warn everyone. Everything was not working our way.

The people that we did warn were not in as much shock as the others. Rashida came marching in, her eyes had a spark in them I had never seen in my life. They were truly maddening.

She didn't say a word, not that she needed to. We all knew our fate; imprisonment or death.

The question was, were we going to give up, or were we going to fight? There were tears now in Rashida's eyes. She knew that she'd been beat, we all did. There was no moral for the crew to stand upon. Never in my life had I just wanted to escape. But I was going to be brave.

Rashida exited the ship's barracks and everyone followed. We were going to have to surrender unless we all wanted to die. One thing I figured out quickly about Rashida was she cared about her crew. In some cases more than her own life.

I looked at Dierdre, who had tears in her eyes.

"This is it isn't it," she told me.

I could only nod. I couldn't stand to speak at a time like this.

The armada entered the ship.

"Surrender pirates or die," the clockwork told us.

I gulped, and felt for the gun I kept close to my body. Something in me just didn't want to surrender. That was when I heard a shot and then felt so much pain that I blacked out. That was the last thing I remembered before being a prisoner of the armada. I did escape, and I would live a very adventurous life as a pirate.

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 _Now go to sleep young one. You have a long day ahead of you. Remember, never bow down to those that suppress you, but instead, find a way around them. Instead of bowing down, do what I do, say with confidence. "I will not bow." You are a pirate after all._

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 **Sorry for taking so long to write. I was stuck on this for a while. Now I can say with confidence that this story is complete. *Pats myself on the back* This was never supposed to be a long story, at only four chapters. I'm not sure if I want to write a sequel or not. If you want one tell me, otherwise I won't write one. I have a lot to write on anyway.**


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